Personal Narrative: Jared

“In August of 2017, I was on my way home from camping in Virginia with some friends when I was stopped by a county cop and arrested for possession of 2 ADD medication pills (without a prescription) and a small amount of marijuana. I was charged with misdemeanor possession and felony possession. I entered into a plea deal which resulted in the misdemeanor charge being dropped, but I was also admitted into Virginia’s First Offender Program, which mandates a six-month driver’s license suspension. The court fines for Virginia were $611 as well as a $150 driver’s license reinstatement fee to the Virginia DMV. Once my case was transferred to Illinois, where I live, I was charged by my home county another $600 for probation services fees. In total, court fees cost me $1361. On top of court fees, I had to be bailed out of jail after spending three days there, which cost $600 as well as $3000 for a lawyer for a grand total of $4361 plus drug test and DNA testing fees. I received two years of probation as formal punishment, but the financial aspect is 100% to most difficult part to deal with coming from a family that struggles financially and while trying to put myself through community college.”